In partnership with Simplifi Wireless Group, 181 W. Madison and Michigan Plaza are now outfitted with JMA DAS to bring unparalleled coverage and capacity to support the cellular needs of tenants’ day-to-day and business operations.

Fast DAS CEO Farzin Yazdani acknowledges that there are inherent risks to owning and operating distributed antenna systems (DAS) infrastructure, and some building owners may not have the best impression about the marketplace. “They’ve heard about DAS, but not all of it’s good,” he says. “They know about the negative stuff and the risks, such as paying for infrastructure then having carriers refuse to join, demand to have the system shut down or rack up FCC fines for illegally re-broadcasting a licensed spectrum operator’s channels without their permission.”

Part of Yazdani’s role at Fast DAS is to educate the marketplace about the amenity of mobile connectivity. “We feel that if property owners have a risk-free way to implement mobile connectivity in their buildings, they be a lot better for and they would consider it,” he adds. “Mobile connectivity enhances our lives.”

Carriers like Verizon and AT&T feel comfortable joining a Fast DAS commercial neutral host distributed antenna systems (N-DAS) because Fast DAS is a neutral third-party operator. “That means we do not have a horse in the race and are free to be neutral arbiters of both technology platform and neutral host infrastructure power sharing plans,” Yazdani says. “Owning neutral infrastructure creates conflicts for carrier organizations and it seems they prefer to deal with us instead. Fast DAS coordinates the design and development of these systems with wireless service providers (WSP) including Verizon and AT&T, thereby avoiding one of the major barriers faced by other DAS providers.

“There are a lot of DAS companies looking for creative ways to eliminate WSP from the design and install of DAS altogether, but that’s not us; we do carrier coordination as a matter of course,” he adds. “We work with carriers to develop the right design, which ensures a better system for all stakeholders that will likely not be shut down by the carrier when implemented.”

The company’s clients include regional real estate investment trusts and other property owners. Its systems can be found in mixed-use commercial and multifamily residential buildings throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Turnkey Solutions

The advantages of an N-DAS Network include licensed spectrum, minimum interference, optimal bandwidth, capacity and performance, lowest total cost of ownership and high availability, reliability and security. N-DAS Networks have a single common infrastructure shared by multiple carriers, which makes them less expensive to implement and maintain than enterprise Wi-Fi, Yazdani notes. Unlike Wi-Fi, N-DAS doesn’t need to be upgraded to receive the benefits of carrier technology upgrades. A user doesn’t have to change access points or add any infrastructure to gain 5G, when it arrives. DAS is simply a mode for signal transport. Modulation technology – such as small cell or base station to user equipment – happens behind a DAS, so a proper N-DAS is built future ready.

Verizon and AT&T – which combined represent an estimated 80 percent of the U.S. commercial mobile market – are active on all Fast DAS networks from the moment they are installed. The company also works with additional providers such as Sprint and T-Mobile.

Having carriers pay to provide signal source capacity and backhaul on Fast DAS’ systems enables the company to provide systems at a lower cost than its competitors.

“We’ve scaled the cost of this to a point where Class B buildings can afford to install it,” Yazdani says. “We’ve taken the cost and spread it across several stakeholders.”

Reputation First

Fast DAS partners closely with its clients throughout all of its projects. This includes monitoring and maintaining infrastructure and signing carrier agreements on behalf of owners. “We want to provide the most efficient and effective N-DAS solution the customer can purchase,” Yazdani says.

The company also works with other qualified integration companies with structured cable capabilities who have the ability to install DAS Networks but perhaps not the engineering to perform carrier compliant testing, design, quality control, commissioning, provisioning and monitoring themselves. Fast DAS provides these capabilities. “We also have a model where we offer technology integrators the ability to install, build and maintain our DAS Networks,” he adds, “it is a special program we are piloting with qualified integration partners today.”

Fast DAS’s relationships and its ability to complete large- scale quality installations have earned it positive word of mouth in its market. “This is a reputation business; we take on business, implement and operate projects large and small based on our reputation,” Yazdani says. “It takes very little to lose one’s reputation in business, so we don’t waste anyone’s time. Property owners don’t need me to benchmark signal measurements to know that their patrons’ phones aren’t working in their building for certain carriers. We build and design to carriers’ standards, and when we submit a design package to them it’s complete and has everything they need to make a decision.”

A Career Evolution

Yazdani founded Fast DAS in 2014 after working as for wireless infrastructure providers including Crown Castle. “My goal from the very beginning of my carrier was to be an excellent teammate,” he says. “I wanted to be someone everyone felt comfortable turning to when they wanted a simple straight answer about challenging and complex technical problems.”

In his previous roles, Yazdani had access to laboratories operated by major carriers including Sprint. “Sprint has more [radio frequency] RF equipment and RF test equipment in their labs than any four universities in the United States combined,” he says.

Yazdani is a seasoned technologist, but he has a passion for entrepreneurship that extends back to his childhood. “I would always figure out ways to add value and make money. whether mowing lawns or selling stuff door-to-door. In Elementary school, at lunchtime, I would buy treats from the cafeteria and then sell them at a fair markup on the bus ride home,” he says.

After years of working for Fortune 50 telecoms, Yazdani decided to follow his entrepreneurial instincts by starting his own company. “Making the transition to my own business was difficult but worth it,” he says, noting the high cost and barriers to entry in a hardware-based business. “I picked N-DAS because I see it as being integral to the future of carrier networks; if carriers can’t pay for it, the enterprise will rise up and help fund it because their patrons demand for mobile connectivity is ravenous and nothing deploys more bandwidth over a single infrastructure than a proper N-DAS.

“Among the first thing young folks will do when looking at a new home, or an apartment, is to pull out their smart phone and see how many bars they are getting,” Yazdani adds. “Especially when it comes to high-end apartment buildings, if owners aren’t providing quality mobile connectivity to their tenants, those tenants will go somewhere else.”

Today Yazdani considers himself a tech businessman who invests in and develops his people. “When considering a adding a new teammate, first and foremost comes integrity. Integrity, humility, and a good attitude toward the world help us be better problem solvers and add greater value to the world,” he says. “We bring young men and women who will fit well into our culture and then grow them to be the best in this business at what they do.

“We are an engineering company’s engineering company, and our culture demands integrity and excellence,” Yazdani adds. “It takes a calm and emotionally balanced mind to be able to problem solve and succeed at our company. Our investment in our people is predicated on that proposition that our people will in turn take excellent care of our clients’ needs. We believe in being good to our employees – they come first and always have.”